SAVE THE RED PANDA
The Human Problem
How Humans are Single-Handedly Destroying the Red Panda Population
Habitat loss is unfortunately the greatest threat to red pandas, though they are also poached for their thick soft fur. Human population growth in central China and in the Himilaya Mountains has led to more farms, ranches, and houses which demand a lot of wood. The increasing demand for wood is decimating the lush forests biomes of China and Nepal, and this in turn is taking a huge toll on the red panda population as they do not have adequate living space and food sources. This needs to stop, as only 3.34% of China’s forests remain intact (Greenpeace East Asia, 2011), and this is taking a huge toll on its inhabitants. A change needs to be made fast in order for the forests to be able to support the Red Pandas, as they won’t be able to function with such limited space.
Stopping the Destruction Will be Hard Work
The logging industry provides an estimated $60 billion economic impact in China alone (John Greene, 2017), so lowering their rein would take a toll on their economy in general. Other industries in China would need to grow to make up for the loss, which would be completely possible. An alternative to mass logging that is a rising industry across the world is bamboo harvesting. As the forest diminishes, the lumber industry is exponentially shrinking as well. An alternative such as bamboo needs to be explored and utilized if China is to maintain a sustainable income flow from their forest resources. This would in turn help save the red panda, and could drastically increase its population size!
Although it may take time for China to acclimate to this large change in resource, it will end up taking on some of the economic load of their slowly dying resource depleting logging industry. China is one of the world’s largest importers, consumers, and exporters of wood-based products because of companies such as China Longjiang Forest Industry General Corporation, China Inner Mongolia Forestry Industry Group Co, and Greater Khingan Mountains Forestry Group Co. Along with this, over 15% of imports and exports of wood-based products were estimated to be illegal in China (Illegal Logging Portal, 2018). The top consumers of these legal illegal logging supplies are India, Japan, the United States, and multiple countries within the European Union. These countries would be inclined to follow or at least comply with China’s resource change, as these economies have become reliant on resource imports to their countries, and with a goliath like China at the forefront of this movement, it would be difficult for these countries to function without adequate resources. To stop the deforestation and save the Red Panda would require the implementation of new legislation that would force logging companies to either decrease their reign on these regions or begin to convert or at least partially convert to a more sustainable resource.
Although China is very rigid in regards to changing legal policy within the country, it would be possible to persuade them to a resource like bamboo if certain organizations could begin to crack down on their large illegal export sub-industry or begin to tariff mass lumber exports. This would only be necessary to begin the process, as the results would begin to speak for themselves, and China’s incentive would become intrinsic rather than “incentivized”. Change is possible, we just need to change our approach!
